Sunday, July 24, 2011

“We can’t paint the plant exterior this weekend because the hippies are coming to town.” Say what? Dave made this statement in a Facilities review a week ago. What could he possibly be talking about? It was the 4 day Gathering of the Vibes Music and Art Festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT. I figured for sure, there was some stereotyping going on. I blogged a couple weeks ago about the Clearwater Music Festival and I did not think any event could bring out more hippies.

I’ve shared the leadership lessons from Coachella, Austin City Limits and Clearwater. Generally, these festivals offer us all an opportunity to experience diversity. The Vibes was no exception. This was a celebration of the 1960’s era along with more contemporary. Many world peace organizations had platforms and booths the share information about their causes.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

This skinny kid with wavy hair and bright eyes wandered down to the end of the court where my nephew and I shooting hoops. This kid is probably only 13 years old and says “you guys want to play some twenty-one or something?” As it turns out, the kid has game but struggles against our size and experience.

Charlie tells us he caddied at the golf course early this morning and played hoops in his drive most the day. He was bored playing by himself so his mom drove him to the city court. Turns out, we were the only guys playing that hot evening. Charlie was headed to basketball camp the next week and planned to play freshman high school ball when the school year starts. This kid has passion for what he is doing. Can you imagine a work team with the passion of Charlie? “Drive – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Daniel H. Pink asks the question, “why will we do something for free that we would not do for pay?” Part of the secret is to align the individual’s passion with the available assignments.

How do you capitalize on the innate passion of your teammates? How do you keep your own passion aligned?

Monday, July 4, 2011

Ok. I admit it. I am a self confessed “cereal killer.” I have been since as a teenager I could devour a whole box of Cheerios at one sitting. If you were hearing this admission rather than reading it, this would be a very concerning blog post. This phenomenon happens all the time with the English language and even worse when communicating with someone whose English is a second language.

It happened one time when I was mentoring a young Chinese born manufacturing professional as I and asked her if she “ever planned to enter a cleaner side of the industry?” Her reaction was obvious and I came to learn she thought I was insinuating she might enter the dry cleaning industry. It happened internationally a couple weeks ago when the words “blame” and “hold accountable” were used interchangeably. They definitely have difference connotations in the United States. The funniest wording mix-up I’ve heard came from a friend that publically said she forgot her “pants” instead of “trousers” while in the UK. That brought a lot of smiles.

Have you learned from an important mistake? Does it happen within the United States too?

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